Da new vet!

[doxielady5569128]

OH YEAH!!! I'm so 'cited!!  I gots to go to da park today.  Dis is da first time since I got sick dat momma could take me dere.   

Momma is pwetty convinced dat I hab dat IBD fing.  Since I onwy hab tummy twubbles off and on duwing da year.   Da vet she took me too in Wyoming said dat he fought dats wat I hab and not da dog flu.  Dey were gonna run some tests to check, but said I hab been frew a lot in da last few weeks so dey wanted to wait till fings calm down.  Because all dis tummy twubble might go away abter my stwess goes away.  If dats da case, dey don't fink I need to worry about medication for da IBD.  If its onwy a stwess fing.  Dat is gweat news!!   Dey did say dat dey fought da fever was because I had a little ear infection.  Wonder why da odder vet didn't catch dat?   Also, dey said da antibiotic da odder vet put me on was making my diawhea worser cause dat was one ob da side effects.  Momma couldn't wemember da name ob da antibiotic so dey called de odder office to find out.  Boy, dis is getting confusing!   

Anyway...I feel much better.   Momma had to work for a few hours dis morning and den we went to da vet.  It took us 45 minutes to get dere! Also, I am switching food....again.  momma is supposed to mix it with my old food gradually until all of it is the new food.  It's venison and rice, yummy!!!  Da new vet finks dat maybe somefing in my odder food was causing my upset tummy.  So...hopefully my tummy twubbles are ober for  a while.   We hab to go back dere right away if i start habing da symptoms again, cause den dey will do da tests.   Momma and I are hoping to avoid dat.    We really like da new vet and aren't quite sure why our old vet messed eberyfng up.  Dey used to be weally good.   :thinik:     I especially like dis new one cause he doesn't poke me and he gibs good belly rubs!    :meme: 

Porky Pie


P.S.  Momma sez da bestest part was da consultation was free!  I guess dats a good fing??

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

We're glad you are still feeling good Porky!

I don't mean to be double questioning everything but I get so frustrated with vets, you get different answers from each one for the same thing often.  :verdict:
Didn't the last vet did do blood tests for Porky's flu and determined that is what he had? My understanding is that the test takes more than a a few hours though which if I'm remembering right, that was all it took with Porky's test so I was wondering if they did the right test and that was correct. Didn't he also test positive for the parasite in the water? Has it been in your news, you had mentioned several people getting ill from the water in your area, if they are reporting on it in the paper or news that would validate the vets diagnosis of a parasite.

It would be a pretty big coincidence if he had the flu, a parasite from the water and IBD all at the same time. I'd think he'd be a pretty sick little pupper by now and it doesn't sound like he is. You mentioned you had antibiotics left over from last time, did you not give him the entire dose? If not then it may not have kicked it if he indeed did or does have the flu. You should always give all the pills even if they look fine.

What kind of tests are they planning to run for his IBD if you decide to have them done? Is the new vet thinking he has a food allergy to his old food? Did the vet say what kind of medication he'd put Porky on if he has IBD?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to figure this out in my head, I am the queen of asking the vets questions ad nauseum  because my dogs have been misdiagnosed so much in the past I now ask a million questions and make sure I understand it as well as I can, we often have to do the homework ourselves it seems to get things figured out in the end!  :thinik:

That's great Porky got to go to the park I'll bet it felt good for him to get out!

[doxielady5569128]

DD, I do not mind your questions at all !  Yes, I am pretty sure the original vet did not perform the right test to check for the flu. To be honest, I have no idea what was going on there.  I am frustrated with the whole thing as well.  I stopped givin g the antibiotics, because it seemed to make Porky's tummy hurt much worse.  I thought that was odd and I didn't feel comfortable giving him something that clearly made him feel worse.   I do agree with you that it is important to give all of the medication. You are exactly right.  Yes, the test did only take them a few hours, which I also read it can take days to come back.  So...my suspicions were up at that point.    The parasite thing he was tested for at the first vet and they indicated to me that it was from the city's water and they had other patients having the same problem.   Porky was given a medication for that too.  Which he took all of. 

The second vet did indicate that he thought Porky did in fact have a parasite, but wasn't sure of the source.   And, he also said it looked like the medicine had cleared it up.  He looked at the test results the other vet faxed over to him to determine this.   He did say that perhaps it was the water, but he couldn't be totally certain.   The new vet said he wasn't sure of the IBD thing, but thought it may be a possibility.  That's why we are going to wait a few weeks and see if this stays away.   If it stays away and comes back later, we will check him again for a parasite infection and IBD at the new vet.   

The new vet said there were a variety of tests that he would use before officially diagnosing Porky with IBD.   The first would be an Extensive Physical Exam focusing on the feel of Porky's abdomen.  The second set o tests would be blood, urine, and stool samples from Porky.  And then, he would do an ultrasound or radiograph to rule out anything else.    We are going by the stress of having the parasite, and maybe some kind of irritant in his food.  The vet did not go so far to call it a food allergy, he said, let's try it and see if it helps to switch his food.   He said if Porky's continues to have problems then we will have him tested for different food allergies to indicate if he is intolerant to anything other than milk and dairy. 

I am so frustrated and angry with this whole process.  Quite frankly, I am scared to death about what is going on.  Like you said, you go to a number of vets and they all say different things.   I am doing a lot of research on everything lately to ensure that my baby is getting taken care of.   The new vet said that he can see why the other vet thought Porky had the flu, so it wasn't total incompetance or anything like that.  He also told me he indicated to them that he was "not happy with the antibiotic they chose for treatment of the patient."   So...I guess we'll stick with our new vet for now?    We'll see. 

If you have any more questions or concerns, please let me know.  Don't feel bad at all. You are just trying to be helpful and I really appreciate that!   Thanks!!!    :thumb:

[papbouv]

Glad  you like your new doctor Porky that is always a big Plus its really a shame dogs cannot tell us where they hurt or how they feel
very happy to hear you are doing much better.
Patches & Buddy
Papbouv

[Barb]

It is such a scary thing - because at some point you have to trust what they tell you.  I am very skeptical....especially when it comes to my kids !!!  Glad Porky is on the mend - sending rays that the new food helps to calm his tummy down !

[Roberta]

IBD=irritable bowel can be triggered by a lot of things and in humans ( husband has it) it can be food combinations ie Nick cannot have ice cream after a meal or it gets set of, or chips with meat but Ok with chicken.
Lab tests on the whole don't take a lot of time, longest icubation are for bacterial isolation. Make sure if you can they go to a human lab that has an animal lab as I worked for  a few weeks in a vet lab and animals are not given the timeliness that humans get ie turnaround time is no really worried about, but if it is in a big human lab they are turnaround savy.
Is there a specialist vet in the area, or vet pathology in the hum,an lab as the pathologists are ususally happy to talk to owners (out here anyway).
Get the names of the tests if you can and either google them or mail me. I'm like Dee Dee I ask a tone of questions and require the nitty gritty.
Hope he is better soon
Roberta

[doxielady5569128]

Copy of an article the vet emailed to me about IBD.  I found it to be very helpful.  http://www.sniksnak.com/doghealth/ibd.html  Hopefully, this will help someone else too.  We still aren't sure we want Porky going through all the poking and prodding, if Porky acts ill again or has another bout of this stuff, we will definately do the tests.  I haven't found out the exact names of the tests yet, but the article does mention and explain a few of them. 

[cheryl186]

What an exciting day you had Porky....great that you got to go to da park!!   Sounds like your new Vet is on the ball too.... :apls: :apls:  Prayers coming to Porky hoping that his tummy does not get upset again and he doesn't have to go through all dem dere tests!!!  Way to go Porky :thumb:

[papbouv]

Some times depending on the brand of dog food you serve they sometimes will get the same ingredient but maybe from a different source that can sometime cause upset in a dogs tummy example: say the dog food has brown rice in it. The dog food company has been getting it from farmer A say Farmer A does not grow enough or something reduced the crop. Well of course the dog food company has back up they go to farmer B. Who may water his crops with a different water source well that could cause tummy problems.Hope this makes sense to you this happened years ago to a friend of mine he dog became ill they finely tracked it down to the above problem.
Papbouv

[Roberta]

The endoscope would be the best and none invasive, the rest are from a couple of blood tubes, and are the usual "supects" . Be careful is long term pregnisalone is advised, as is it does have side effects in dogs..................The diet sounds the best and easiest route to go down first.
Roberta

[doxielady5569128]

I did understand what you were saying Papbouv.  It actually made a lot of sense.  Hopefully we won't have that problem.  Roberta, I agree with you on your advice.  The medication will be our absolute LAST resort.  I have serious issues giving steroids to my dog.   I really do hope te diet thing helps.  So far, so good.  No upset tummy yet with the new venison food.   But, we aren't completely switched yet either.  So...we'll see.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Roberta is there a blood test for hoomans to tell if they have IBD? For animals, and maybe it's changed in the last 5 years but when I was dealing with it, they said the only way to tell for sure would be to scope and take a biopsy of the intestines, which would be pretty rough I'd think with general anesthesia and all. They do a bunch of other tests to rule out other things and often if they are all ruled out, they will just say it must be IBD then and treat accordingly (unfortunately, usually with pred). If it helps then that further points to it being IBD for sure. This is just what they said my options with Simon were though back then. We did change his food several times which didn't help much but his bouts would be for about 2 weeks then stop for a couple of months, and it affected his upper GI more so there was no diarrhea involved. Although Sophie had both coming out both ends and pretty regularly. Not fun for anybody!

Roberta always has good advice on stuff like this!  :thumb: I agree with you about the pred, would be much better to not use it if possible. My hairdressers little maltese had IBD and she got her down finally to 1/4 pill a day and that held it off but then she just lost her 2 months ago at the age of 10 so who knows if that might have contributed (it was her heart). She always drank so much and gained weight on that darn pred.

[doxielady5569128]

I am definately avoiding the pred. at all costs.  It will be our last resort only.  I have seen the effect of it on humans and can only imagine what it would do to a little dog.   I don't know if any of you remember a few weeks ago, Porky was losing weight pretty rapidly and we had to increase his food.  I found out one of the symptoms of IBD is weight loss, so maybe his vet and I should have caught it then instead having to go through the last few weeks of tummy troubles.  I just wish I'd researched it more on my own.  Maybe then the litte guy wouldn't have had to suffer quite so much.    

[Roberta]

here is a good article.
It is really a disease by proxy...........as you eliminate all others and leave it.
In reading the article which some might find gross is what poop looks like etc.
On having Emma who had prednisalone  on and off ended up with Diabetes, so avoid it like the plague.


http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00428.htm
hope this helps Roberta

[Sandishooligans]

I am sooooo glad that Porky is doing better.  Glad you found a vet you like.  They can be SOOOOO different.